Happy Birthday Strength Running! Let’s Party

Today is Strength Running’s first birthday! The past year has flown by and it’s been a wild ride. Thank you to all of my readers who have supported the growth of this website. I wouldn’t be able to put the massive amount of time and effort into everything I do here without your support.

I launched Strength Running on April 18, 2010 because I had an interesting story about my comeback to running and thought I could help runners run better. As many of you know, I ran the 2008 NY marathon in 2:44 and then spent 6 months injured with ITBS. I finally kicked the injury after seeing numerous physical therapists and doing a ton of research to finally understand injuries.

After my transition to healthy running I noticed something incredible: I went a full year without a single injury. That never happened to me. I looked over my training and realized it was a lot different than what it used to be. That single spark is the reason Strength Running is here today.

What Happened Over the Last Year?

Since the blog launched with a handful of articles, it now boasts well over 100 articles and about 100,000 words of content. I’ve launched two free books: 52 Workouts, 52 Weeks, One Faster Runner and the Strength Running PR Guide (only available for select newsletter readers).

I’ve also done several interviews with some great runners and writers (and another one coming soon!):

The coaching services I offer have also expanded to fit different needs for different runners. If you just want a review of your training, there’s a package for that. If you want a full training program for a specific race or even a comprehensive 1-on-1 coaching plan that’s fine too. One of the most rewarding things I do here at Strength Running is coach; seeing my athletes succeed is proof that my training programs work. Getting down to the nitty gritty of daily workouts, pace suggestions, and race strategies is what excites me.

Strength Running also hosted (what I believe to be) the first ever minimalist running blog carnival, hosting articles from many bloggers about different aspects of barefoot and minimalist running. One of the side benefits of writing here is that I get to interact with awesome bloggers like David Csonka, Greg Strosaker, Matt “Luau” Wilson, and a host of others. If you have a chance, check these guys out. They rule.

So what’s popular here on Strength Running? It seems you’re interested in a wide variety of articles, from sprinting, beginner tips, to the scientific analysis of my ventilatory threshold. Below are the top 10 posts by views during the last year:

Let me know what type of running articles you want to see and I’ll write them. My goal here is to provide you with the information you’re looking for so just email me!

The Celebration: Coaching Giveaway and New Feature!

No birthday is complete without a celebration. I want to kick off the second year of Strength Running by giving away a free Plateau Buster or PR Race Plan (your choice) to a lucky newsletter reader. Here’s the deal: if you want to be considered, just sign up for the newsletter and then shoot me an email by Sunday night (11:59pm Eastern on 4/24) and let me know. I’ll keep track of everyone and randomly choose the winner on Monday.

The winner can choose which coaching option they want, depending on their current training situation. If you want to be included in the giveaway, just sign up to the Strength Running newsletter, email me at support@strengthrunning.com, and I’ll take it from there.

I also want to introduce a new feature: the Strength Running All-Stars. I‘m welcoming any reader to submit a story of running transformation and renewal. My hope is that these inspirational stories will help motivate others to achieve their goals.

Tell us how your running has changed or improved for the better. What accomplishments have you had on your journey? Has Strength Running helped? Have you overcome a serious injury? Run faster than you ever thought possible? Email all submissions (at least 500 words) to support@strengthrunning.com and they’ll be posted on a rolling basis. Include a short bio and I’ll link to your blog, Twitter account, or Dailymile profile.

Thank you again for all of your support in making this community so awesome. Strength Running is quickly growing but I still try to reply to every comment, tweet, and email. You’re the reason I keep writing here.

Quite a lot of progress in one year Fitz, really impressive what you have done with Strength Running. Predawn Runner celebrates a year in a little less than a month, but it won’t have quite the same ring and litany of accomplishments and awards that you’ve posted here. I’ve enjoyed getting to know you and your approach via Strength Running and look forward to continuing to follow along and keeping up the conversation.

Normally I would sing a song about having another wrinkle in your birthday suit or something silly like that. But, I guess that won’t really work here. =D Happy Birthday Strength Running. You have done so much for me.

I have learned a lot in Strength Running’s first year, here’s to many more years! I’m not a great runner and will never win any races, but running makes me happy. Reading about running makes me happy. Watching people run makes me happy.